Ron Paul's supporters were relegated to the back of the bus during the Republican National Convention after the GOP leadership assigned states whose delegations are flush with the Texas congressman's representatives to the outskirts of the convention center in Tampa, Fla.
States with a significant number of Ron Paul delegates were seated as far from the main stage as possible when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney accepts the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night
Paul's campaign succeeded in several states: Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon, Nevada, Iowa and Minnesota, claiming 177 delegates for Paul even though the Texas congressman did not win a single primary.
Paul cheekily sidestepped calls to hand his delegates over to Romney, insisting he has no sway over his followers, and made no efforts to charm the Romney campaign, telling the New York Times, "I don't fully endorse him for president."
At the convention, the Paul delegates were prevented from casting votes for Paul by the Republican National Committee, who bent and broke rules to keep Paul off the ballot.
While the convention featured a tribute video to the retiring Texas congressman, he was not permitted to speak at the convention. More than 100 of his core backers then showed their devotion to him by marching out of the convention hall after the tribute was over.
A few minutes after the tribute, Paul's son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, took the stage.
Paul's own outdoor rally on Aug. 26 and , his son's speech at the convention the following Wednesday both spotlighted the division within the party.
However, the party platform adopted at the convention spoke to his influence, including a push for an audit of the Federal Reserve and a call for a commission to consider "a metallic basis for U.S. currency," or a return to the gold standard. Both of these are issues Paul has been speaking about for years, and they have finally been given some attention.
But has the party earned your vote?
Or asked differently, is a vote for Ron Paul a vote for Obama?
Only you can asnwer that question for yourself. I feel like a vote for Romney is me selling out, once again, on a "lesser-of-two-evils" vote.
I promised myself a long time ago not to cast my vote for someone I did want to see sitting in the chair.
Maybe if enough Americans voted for a person instead of a party, we'd see real change in our political system.
